Rabindra Dhungel, 27 september 2020. Problems have been seen in the operation of industries that have been shut down due to long-term lockouts and bans. Due to the epidemic of corona infection, about 2,000 small and large scale industries in the Birgunj Industrial Corridor area have been affected. So far, only 30 to 40 percent of the industries in the Birgunj Industrial Corridor have been able to come into operation.
However, the remaining industries are being prepared for operation and it may take up to three months for all the industries to come into operation, said Subodh Gupta, senior vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
According to him, the closure of industries due to lockdown has not been possible due to non-availability of Indian workers, lack of quarantine and isolation system for workers, lack of market management across the country and ineffective refinancing of monetary policy by the Government of Nepal.
According to Gupta, most of the industries in Birgunj are run by Indian workers and they are stuck in their own country due to the strike. On the other hand, Gupta said that the industry has been hampered due to the government’s failure to provide quarantine and isolation for the general public.
The government of Nepal is saying that quarantine and isolation should be arranged for the workers coming from outside Nepal while operating the industries and the Indian workers could not come to Nepal as the industries could not make their own quarantine and isolation.
Gupta, who is also the president of the Nepal Rice, Pulses and Oil Industries Association, said that there is a problem in the operation of the industries due to the inability to manage the market across the country. . According to him, the industry has been facing problems due to non-receipt of orders from big cities and non-delivery of goods due to non-receipt of the remaining amount.
On the other hand, Gupta said that there is a problem in the operation of the industry as the refinancing brought by the Nepal Rastra Bank in the monetary policy for the relief of the industries that collapsed during the lockdown has not flowed.